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Delhi Airport FBO Terminal Hits Snag as Site Moves

New-build private aircraft terminal and hangars at Delhi International Airport have been delayed by two years, following a change in their location in the airport’s master plan. The planned site of the multi-FBO facility that was to be ready by 2018 is now being shifted, because it is near an air force base, AIN has learned. The revised location is awaiting the demolition of the India government-owned Centaur Hotel near Runway 29, where the FBO will be constructed, according to airport CEO I. Prabhakara Rao.

Two consortiums were awarded 20-year deals in late 2015 for the design, construction, finance, development, operation and maintenance for the FBOs. Concessionaires Bird Worldwide Flight Services-ExecuJet and Indamer-MJets are mandated to invest around $15 million each in the terminal, lounges, hangars, fuel storage and parking.

Meanwhile, international and Indian trip support services offering clients end-to-end flight support solutions have expressed frustration with the arrangement of the present “makeshift” lounge used mainly by the concessionaires “that is affecting our service standards,” said an industry handler. He was referring to lack of parking, quality of lounge services and the lack of customs and immigration service.

“If you want to build the business aviation industry, development needs to be fast-tracked,” said R.K. Bali, managing director of the Business Aviation Operators Association (BAOA).